John Abraham upset with Indian footballs current state, backs ISL players plea: Shame on us

Indian football is currently in depths of chaos, with the 2025-26 ISL season having not yet begun. In the latest development on Saturday, the AIFF confirmed that dates of the delayed 2025-26 season will be announced next week. Reacting to current situation, NorthEast United co-owner John Abraham called it a ‘shame’.

The Bollywood actor shared a video on social media, which showed the joint plea by ISL players, including Sunil Chhetri and Gurpreet Singh Sandhu. In the video, the players urged FIFA and FIFPro to intervene and resolve the situation.

In the video, which has gone viral on social media since Gurpreet uploaded it, Chhetri said, “Players, staff, owners and the fans deserve clarity, protection and more importantly, a future.”

Meanwhile, other players added, “But more importantly, we are here to make a plea. Indian football government is no longer able to fulfil its responsibilities. We are now staring at a permanent paralysis. This is the last-ditch effort to save what we can. So we are calling the FIFA to step in and do what it takes to save Indian football. We hope this message gets to the power that are in Zurich. This call is not political, it is not driven by confrontation but by necessity. It might sound like a big word but the truth is that we are facing a humanitarian, sporting and economic crisis. And of course, we need rescuing at the earliest. We just want to play football, please help us do it.”

According to reports, AIFF is expected to announce a February 15 start of the delayed 2025-26 ISL season. The season was delayed after the MRA with former commercial rights holder FSDL ended on December 8.